i haven’t posted in awhile (not that i’m much of a regular around here), because i have been working feverishly to get ready for my first craft show at a local church.

i spent the first two weeks preparing samples, narrowing down my product list, taking photos, developing pricing, and ordering fabric & supplies. then i spent three weeks stocking my booth with my creations. and then came the real fun: setting up the booth!!! mom & dad came to town for moral support (and to babysit), and mom helped tag all 150 items. the day before the show, lorien came over and we did a “dress rehearsal” of the booth (and as usual, she’s the photographer):

i wanted to go all out & do some gorgeous displays… i’m so proud of the way it turned out.

thank you, lorien, for supplying most of the furniture & display pieces. all of The Denny Family stuff is packed up while our house is on the market.

the morning of the bazaar, bff4eva lorien, super-supportive hubby brian, and i arrived at the church at around 6am (dark:30), and got to work recreating the booth. it was damp and cold, but by 10am we were getting kinda toasty in the south carolina autumn sunshine.

i had pretty good sales, met some new people, took custom orders, and really enjoyed the day.

the hip kids tees were a huge hit, but there are plenty of good leftovers on my brand new etsy site. i sold a few of these pretty ladies:

all-in-all, it was a tremendous amount of work, a huge sacrifice made by my family, and i would do it all over again in a heartbeat. thank you to all of you who came out in support, and the family & friends who worked behind the scenes (renee & lorien, you rock!)… i couldn’t have done it without you!!!

i haven’t posted much lately b/c i’ve been SUPER busy making samples for my first potential craft bazaar. and i don’t want to spoil any surprises by posting pictures of the samples… yet. but i will. in the meantime, while i wait to hear back from the bazaar committee, i’ve also been making curtains for a friend’s new house in richmond, va. so, i’ll post pictures of those when they’re done too.

and in hopes of winning this dress, help me out by checking out this cute blog! they’re giving away a sweet little dress that i’d love to have for miss kendall… so wish me luck!!!!!

i’ve finally found the inspiration for another rhoda quilt block. i’ve been wanting to try a hexagon quilt, possibly for cooper‘s next bed quilt, and found camille’s thimble blossoms site with super instructions. as usual, i modified them – i did everything by machine, whereas she hand-sews everything (my own personal hell). and aside from one little pucker, i’m pleased with the results.

here’s what i started with, before trimming it down to a 12″ square…

it pained me to cut off all the excess hexagons – not because it was so much work, but because you don’t get the full hexagon-beehive effect when it’s cut down to size…

the good news is, i don’t think this will be my last hexagon project. i really liked the challenge!!!

some friends of ours from church had us over to dinner in their gorgeous new home a few weeks ago, and around the time dessert was being served, we found out it was our gracious hostess’s birthday!!! sneaky little april… so during the following week, i came up with this idea for a belated birthday gift. i really hope that it’ll hold a special place, marking the start of many wonderful memories in their new home.